Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon
- God’s grace is illustrated and magnified—in the troubles and trials of believers. Saints bear up under every discouragement, believing that all things work together for their good—and that out of apparent evils—a real blessing shall ultimately spring!
- They believe that their God will either work a deliverance for them speedily, or most assuredly support them in the trouble, as long as He is pleased to keep them in it. This patience of the saints proves the power of divine grace.
- If then, yours is a much-tried path, rejoice in it, because you will the better show forth the all-sufficient grace of God.
- Think how much grace one Christian requires—so much that nothing but the Infinite could supply him for one day! And yet the Lord spreads His table, not for one—but many saints; not for one day—but for many years; not for many years only—but for generation after generation!
- Christians who isolate themselves and walk alone—are very liable to grow drowsy. Hold Christian company, and you will be kept wakeful by it, and refreshed and encouraged to make quicker progress in the road to heaven.
- Regeneration is a subject which lies at the very basis of salvation, and we should be very diligent to take heed that we really are “born again,” for there are many who imagine they are, who are not.
- To wash and dress a corpse is a far different thing from making it alive! Man can do the one—God alone can do the other.
- If you cannot trust God for temporal needs—how dare you trust Him for spiritual needs? Can you trust Him for your soul’s redemption, and not rely upon Him for a few lesser mercies? Is not God enough for your needs—or is His all-sufficiency too narrow for your needs?
- Trials are a part of our lot; they were predestinated for us in Christ’s last legacy, “In this world you will have trouble.” John 16:33. So surely as the stars are fashioned by his hands, and their orbits fixed by Him, so surely are our trials allotted to us! He has ordained their season and their place, their intensity and the effect they shall have upon us.
- It is well for us if, while the flesh mourns over trials—that our faith triumphs in divine faithfulness.
- When death itself appears, faith points to the light of resurrection beyond the grave—thus making our dying Benoni to be our living Benjamin!
- Live near to Jesus, Christian, and it is matter of secondary importance whether you live on the mountain of honor—or in the valley of humiliation.
- If we would remember that all the trees of earth are marked for the woodman’s axe, we would not be so ready to build our nests in them. We would love others—but we would love with the love which expects death, and which reckons upon separations.
The view which I maintain is that every book, and chapter, and verse, and syllable of the Bible was originally given by inspiration of God. I hold that not only the substance of the Bible, but its language,--not only the ideas of the Bible, but its words,--not only certain parts of the Bible, but every chapter of the book,--that all and each are of Divine authority. I hold that the Scripture not only contains the Word of God, but is the Word of God.
I believe the narratives and statements of Genesis, and the catalogues in Chronicles, were just as truly written by inspiration as the Acts of the Apostles. I believe Ezra’s account of the nine-and-twenty knives, and St. Paul’s message about the cloak and parchments, were as much written under Divine direction as the 20th of Exodus, the 17th of John, or the 8th of Romans.
The inspiration of every word, for which I contend, is the inspiration of every original Hebrew and Greek word, as the Bible writers first wrote it down.
I cannot see how the Bible can be a perfect rule of faith and practice if it is not fully inspired, and if it contains any flaws and imperfections.
If the Bible is anything at all it is the statute-book of God’s kingdom,--the code of laws and regulations by which the subjects of that kingdom are to live,--the register-deed of the terms on which they have peace now and shall have glory hereafter.
Where is the use of choosing a text and making it the subject of a pulpit address, if we do not believe that every word of the text is inspired? Once let our hearers get hold of the idea that the writers of the Bible could make mistakes in the particular words they used, and they will care little for any reproofs, or exhortations, or remarks which are based on words.
The denial of verbal inspiration appears to me to destroy a great part of the usefulness of the Bible as a source of comfort and instruction in private reading.
Is the Bible the Word of God? Then mind that you do not neglect it. Read it: read it! Begin to read it this very day. What greater insult to God can a man be guilty of than to refuse to read the letter God sends him from heaven? Oh, be sure, if you will not read your Bible, you are in fearful danger of losing your soul!
You are in danger, because God will reckon with you for your neglect of the Bible in the day of judgment. You will have to give account of your use of time, strength, and money; and you will also have to give account of your use of the Word.
Of all men’s buried talents, none will weigh them down so heavily as a neglected Bible. As you deal with the Bible, so God will deal with your soul.
You are in danger, because there is no degree of error in religion into which you may not fall. A land of unwalled villages is not more defenceless against an enemy than a man who neglects his Bible. You may go on tumbling from one step of delusion to another, till at length you are landed in the pit of hell I say once more, Will you not repent and read your Bible?
You are in danger, because there is not a single reasonable excuse you can allege for neglecting the Bible. You have no time to read it forsooth! But you can make time for eating, drinking, sleeping, getting money and spending money, and perhaps for newspaper reading and smoking. You might easily make time to read the Word.
Alas, it is not want of time, but waste of time that ruins souls!--You find it too troublesome to read, forsooth! You had better say at once it is too much trouble to go to heaven, and you are content to go to hell.
Is the Bible the Word of God? Then be sure you always read it with deep reverence. Say to your soul, whenever you open the Bible, “O my soul, thou art going to read a message from God.”
Is the Bible the Word of God? Then be sure you never read it without fervent prayer for the help and teaching of the Holy Spirit. Here is the rock on which many make shipwreck. They do not ask for wisdom and instruction, and so they find the Bible dark, and carry nothing away from it. You should pray for the Spirit to guide you into all truth.
The Bible is a large book or a small one, a dark or a bright one, according to the spirit in which men read it.
Finally, is the Bible the Word of God? Then let us all resolve from this day forward to prize the Bible more. Let us not fear being idolaters of this blessed book.
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. God has given us the Bible to be a light to guide us to everlasting life. Let us not neglect this precious gift. Let us read it diligently, walk in its light, and we shall be saved.
© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible
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